Accents Bring All the Girls to the Yard

I so want to get Ryan a kilt in his clan's tartan colors.

I don't know about you, but accents make me melt.  Languages are beautiful to me and with a lilting accent, boy howdy, I'm putty in your hands.  I've recently started reading a book series by Diana Gabaldon called Outlander.

The series is about a nurse, Claire, who has just finished her tour in Europe during WWII.  She is reunited with her husband after they've been separated for the majority of the war.  While he researches in Scotland, she comes across a stone formation that transports her back in time where she runs into a multitude of characters, including the families of the MacKenzie and Fraser clans.  It's a historical romance, but don't let the stereotypes of cheesy romance novels dissuade you from checking this out.  The storyline is really good and Claire is a really strong female character.  I'm super picky about female characters.  They tend to be annoying or super dependent on a male protagonist and it pisses me off.  Claire however is strong-willed, independent, and in the 1700s it gets her in a lot of trouble.  Nevertheless the character of Jamie Fraser guides her in the right direction plus in terms of character crushes, hands down, he wins.

Source via Outlander Fan

The series was recommended to me by my friend Lindsey and the fan following is crazy.  Right now the author, Gabaldon, is holding a read-a-thon in preparation for her 2014 release of the eighth book in the series.  What's extra awesome is that Starz is making a tv-series that will also be premiered in 2014 with Sam Heughan as the actor for Jamie. #bestillmyheart

 

He is from Scotland, has a Scottish accent, and is super cute. It's one of those #mancrushmonday moments where I wish my husband actually had a Scottish accent.  Ryan's family is also Irish and German so I'd take any of those as well ;)

However, the series did get me interested in Ryan's Scottish heritage (the series is incredibly interesting).  So I did some investigating, which ultimately made my husband laugh periodically throughout the day with my sudden outbursts of trivia bits. 

  

First off the first known person of the name Erskine was Henry Erskine who was also the owner of the Barony of Erskine.  I love the name Henry and I think this is destiny-esque but then again I think a lot of things are predetermined destiny.  In modern Scottish Gaelic, the name is spelt Arascain.   

That just makes you want to say it and I've been repeating it for the past 24-hours. 

Just saying it gives you a slight Scottish lilt.  

The family's crest is shown above as well as the tartan colors. The clan's motto is Decori decus addit avito (He adds honour to that of his ancestors).  It sounds so badass...I love it! The flower is the red rose (my middle name is Rose) and the motto on the crest is Je Pense Plus, meaning I think more. I'm not sure why there's two, maybe someone can explain this to me?  I might just be overly nerdy about all of this, but I just love it.  As much as I know about Filipino culture, I don't know much about my Irish culture and now I'm part of Ryan's family which includes a German and Scottish heritage.  There's still a lot more I need to learn but I'm utterly fascinated.

If you have any books on Scottish or Irish history, culture, or folklore, I would love the recommendations!

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